Display processing system and method

ABSTRACT

Pixel data is stored in a field corresponding to a pixel of an image. The field includes an opacity bit and a set of bits. If the opacity bit is set to an opaque-indicating state, then a color level value of a component color of the pixel is stored in the set of bits. However, if the opacity bit is set to a transparency-indicating state, then a transparency level value is stored in at least one bit of the set of bits and the respective color level value is stored in other bits of the set of bits.

This is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/276,537,filed Nov. 24, 2008, which is a continuation of U.S. patent applicationSer. No. 10/776,824, filed Feb. 11, 2004, now U.S. Pat. No. 7,466,855,which claims priority of U.S. Provisional Application No. 60/446,207,filed Feb. 11, 2003, all three applications hereby incorporated hereinby reference.

BACKGROUND

1. Technical Field

This patent document relates to transparency processing and displayingof computer images.

2. Description of the State of the Art

Computer images often use a transparency effect. When part or all of acomputer image is transparent, the displayed background can be seenthrough the transparent portions of the image. Portions of an image canbe displayed with varying levels of transparency. For example, when animage portion is 100% transparent, the background of the image is fullyvisible through the image portion. When an image portion is 0%transparent, the background of the image is not visible through theimage portion. And when an image is 50% transparent, some of thebackground can be seen through the image portion.

To achieve the transparency effect, calculations are performed on thecomputer data that represent the pixels of the image to determine thecorrect pixel values of the image as it is to be displayed. Thecalculations required to achieve transparency often require significantprocessing and memory resources.

Some media devices may have limited processing and memory resources, andthus systems and methods of displaying transparent images are often notideal for use on such media devices. The resources required of mediadevices may be particularly significant when displaying animation,because many potentially transparent images are displayed in rapidsuccession to create the illusion of smooth movement to the user of themedia device.

SUMMARY

A computer implemented method of processing image pixel datacorresponding to an image pixel comprises determining if the image pixelis opaque or transparent. If the image pixel is determined to be opaque,then a pixel color value from a first set of image pixel data isdetermined. If the image pixel is determined to be transparent, however,then a transparency value from a second set of the image pixel data anda pixel color value from a third set of the image pixel data isdetermined. The second and third sets of the image pixel data aresubsets of the first set of image pixel data.

A mobile communication device comprises a display device and a memorymodule. The display device is operable to display image data. The memorymodule comprises a source image buffer and a destination image buffer.The source image buffer is operable to store first image data to bedisplayed on the display device. The destination image buffer isoperable to store second image data to be displayed on the displaydevice. The second image data comprises a first data field operable tostore opaque data that indicates whether second image data istransparent or opaque, and one or more pixel data fields associated withthe first data field. The one or more pixel data fields are operable tostore first pixel color data in each pixel data field when the opaquedata indicates an image is opaque, and operable to store second pixelcolor data and transparency data in each pixel field when the opaquedata indicates that the image is transparent.

The mobile device may further comprise an imaging module operable todetermine if the second image data is opaque or transparent based on theopaque data, to determine a pixel color value from the first pixel colordata if the image is determined to be opaque, and to determine the pixelcolor value from the second pixel color data and to determine atransparency level from the transparency data if the image is determinedto be transparent.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a media device;

FIG. 2 is a block diagram of a format of a 32-bit pixel representationof image data;

FIGS. 3 and 4 are block diagrams of a dynamic image data structure;

FIG. 5 is a flowchart illustrating a method of alpha blending; and

FIG. 6 is a block diagram of an exemplary mobile communication devicethat may incorporate the systems and methods described herein

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a media device 100 that comprises a display102, an imaging module 104, and a memory module 106. The display 102 isused to present information including images to the user of the mediadevice 100. For example, the display 102 may be an LCD screen whichprovides feedback to the user of the media device 100 while the user isinteracting with the media device 100.

The imaging module 104 performs processing necessary to display imagesto a user of the media device 100 via the display 102. The imagingmodule 104 may be implemented in software that is stored in the memorymodule 106 and executed by a computer processor that is included in themedia device 100. Alternatively, the imaging module 104 may beimplemented in firmware or hardware that is included in the media device100.

The memory module 106 is computer memory, such as a RAM or Flash memory.In one embodiment, the memory module 106 comprises a source image buffer108 and a destination image buffer 110. The source image buffer 108 anddestination image buffer 110 may be defined by software, oralternatively may be associated with a dedicated memory block or memorydevice.

The source image buffer 108 stores an image to be shown on the display102. The image may be stored as a two-dimensional array of pixel values.Each pixel value comprises data that specifies the color of a specificportion of the image. The destination image buffer 110 also containspixel values, and is used in the process of displaying computeranimation or transparent images on the media device 100. To display ananimation, a series of frames are displayed in rapid succession. Eachframe comprises one or more images which are stored in the destinationimage buffer 110.

To display an image as part of an animation that is shown on the display102, or to display a transparent image on the display 102, the pixelvalues from the source image buffer 108 are copied to correspondingpixel values in the destination image buffer 110. If an image to beadded to the destination image buffer 110 is at least partiallytransparent, then the pixel values stored in the source image buffer 108that represent transparent portions of the image include data specifyingthe level of transparency of the pixels. Blending techniques, such asalpha blending, then use the transparency data and color data in thepixels in the source image buffer 108 to calculate new pixel values tobe stored in the destination image buffer 110. The pixel values thenstored in the destination image buffer 110 comprise color values thathave been adjusted to produce the effect of transparency.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram of a format of a 32-bit pixel representation.The pixel representation comprises eight alpha bits 200, eight red bits202, eight green bits 204, and eight blue bits 206. The alpha bits 200specify the degree of transparency of the image section specified by thepixel. The red bits 202, green bits 204 and blue bits 206 specify thered, green and blue components of the color of the section specified bythe pixel, respectively.

Known alpha blending techniques use the following formulas to calculatea pixel to be added to the destination image buffer 110 whichcorresponds to a pixel in the source image buffer 108 which is formattedas described above:R0_(new)=(1−A1)*R0+A1*R1G0_(new)=(1−A1)*G0+A1*G1B0_(new)=(1−A1)*B0+A1*B1,

where R0 _(new), G0 _(new), B0 _(new), are the output colors to be addedto the destination image buffer 110, R0, G0, and B0 are the red, green,and blue components of the pixel in the destination image buffer 110;R1, G1, and B1 are the red, green and blue components of the pixel inthe source image buffer 108; and A1 is the alpha component of the pixelin the source image buffer 108, normalized between zero and one.Typically, a value of A1=1 represents a fully opaque bit, and a value ofA1=0 represents a fully transparent pixel.

The format shown in FIG. 2 is also applicable to other bit resolutions,such as a 16-bit pixel representation. While the 32-bit format is atypical pixel representation, many media devices support only 16-bitformats. Thus, data formatted according to the format shown in FIG. 2 isan example of a representation of a pixel that is stored in a sourceimage buffer 108 in a 16-bit resolution. Because a pixel value to bestored in the destination image buffer 110 is calculated for each pixelof an image in a source image buffer 108, alpha blending techniques thatare implemented using the formula described above require manypotentially costly multiplication operations on the media device 100.

FIGS. 3 and 4 are block diagrams of a dynamic image data structure. Asillustrated, the data structure provides a 16-bit pixel representation,and thus may accommodate a number of media devices. Larger pixelrepresentations may also be used, such as a 32-bit pixel representation.These larger pixel representations may be used for media devices 100that have higher processing capabilities, or even in other processingdevices, such as a portable computer or desktop computer.

The dynamic image data structure may be used to store and process alphapixels and non-alpha pixels. FIG. 3 shows the dynamic image datastructure for a non-alpha pixel 300. The non-alpha pixel 300 does notcontain data specifying transparency, i.e., the pixel is opaque.Conversely, the alpha pixel 310 of FIG. 4 contains data specifyingtransparency.

The non-alpha pixel 300 comprises five red bits 302, five green bits304, an opaque bit 306, and five blue bits 308. The red bits 302, greenbits 304, and blue bits 308 are as described above. If the opaque bit306 is set to “1”, then the opaque bit 306 specifies that the pixel isopaque. Thus, the pixel is a non-alpha pixel 300 that does not containtransparency data.

The alpha pixel 310 comprises four red bits 312, a first alpha bit 314,four green bits 316, a second alpha bit 318, the opaque bit 306, fourblue bits 322, and a third alpha bit 324. The red bits 312, green bits316, and blue bits 322 are as described above, except that the bit datahas been reduced from five bits to four bits. The fifth bits of the red,green and blue bits 312, 316 and 322 are used for the alpha bits 314,318, 324, which together specify the transparency level of the pixelvalue.

If the opaque bit 306 is set to “0,” then the opaque bit 306 specifiesthat the pixel is not opaque. Thus, the pixel is an alpha pixel 310 thatcontains transparency data. The transparency level specified by thealpha bits 314, 318, 324 is a logarithmic value according to thefollowing table:

First alpha bit Second alpha bit Third alpha bit Transparency (a2) (a1)(a0) level 0 0 0  0% 0 0 1 50% 0 1 0 75% 0 1 1 87.5%   1 0 0 100%  1 0 150% 1 1 0 25% 1 1 1 12.5%  

The logarithmic values facilitate the use of bit-shifting operationsinstead of floating-point operations. The bit sequence (a1 a 0) is usedas a logarithmic scale for transparency values. For example, when (a1 a0) is (01)=1, there is a right shift by 1, which is equivalent todividing by two (hence the 50% value). Shifting again divides thatprevious result by two (hence the 75% value) and so on. The a2 bit to“flips” the logarithm to obtain a more balanced transparency scale.Thus, by using three bits, a transparency scale of 0%, 12.5%, 25%, 50%,75%, 87.5%, 100% can be obtained.

In the embodiment shown in the table above, the transparency level is avalue that is inversely proportional to the transparency of the pixel.For example, a transparency level of 0% represents a completelytransparent pixel, while a transparency level of 100% represents acompletely opaque pixel. Thus, in the embodiment shown in the tableabove, the numerical value of the transparency level is proportional tothe opacity level of the pixel. Other magnitude relations may be used.For example, in another embodiment, a transparency level of 100% mayrepresent a completely transparent pixel, while a transparency level of0% represents a completely opaque pixel.

Other transparence levels may also be specified, depending on the numberof alpha bits used. For example, a 32-bit pixel representation may useseven alpha bits and one opaque bit. The data structure thus dynamicallyadjusts the length of the bit fields for the red, green and blue bits312, 316, and 322 to provide the alpha bits 314, 318 and 324 when theopaque bit 306 specifies that the pixel is transparent.

Conversion of the five-bit red, green and blue bits 302, 304, and 308 tothe four-bit red, green and blue bits 312, 316, and 322 may beaccomplished by dropping off the least significant bit of the red, greenand blue bits 302, 304, and 308. Other conversion methods may also beused.

The data structure of FIGS. 3 and 4 may be stored in a computer readablemedium on the media device 100, or on some other processing device. Forexample, the data structure may be stored on a computer in communicationwith a communication network, such as a server computer connected to theInternet. A mobile device may be operable to communicate with the servervia a wireless communication system in communication with the Internet.The data structure may be transmitted to the mobile communication devicevia a computer data signal over the Internet and over the wirelesscommunication system. Upon receiving the computer data signal, themobile communication device can store the data structure in a memorystore for processing.

Alpha blending is accomplished using two sets of operations. When thefirst alpha bit 314 is equal to zero, the following operations areperformed according to the first set of alpha blending equations:R0_(new) =[R1−(1−A)*R1]+(1−A)*R0  (1-A)G0_(new) =[G1−(1−A)*G1]+(1−A)*G0  (2-A)B0_(new) =[B1−(1−A)*B1]+(1−A)*B0,   (3-A)

-   -   When the first alpha bit 314 is equal to one, the following        operations are performed according to the second sent of alpha        blending equations:        R0_(new) =[R0−A*R0]+A*R1  (1-B)        G0_(new) =[G0−A*G0]+A*G1  (2-B)        B0_(new) =[B0−A*B0]+A*B1,   (3-B)

In both sets of equations, R0 _(new), G0 _(new), and B0 _(new) are thered, green, and blue components of the pixel to be added to thedestination image buffer 110; R0, G0, and B0 are the red, green, andblue components of the pixel in the destination image buffer 110; R1,G1, and B1 are the red, green and blue components of the pixel in thesource image buffer 108 as specified by the red bits 312, green bits316, and blue bits 322, and A is a representation of the alpha componentof the pixel in the source image buffer 108, as specified by the alphabits 314, 318, 324.

The first set of alpha blending equations 1-A, 2-A and 3-A aremathematically the same as the second set of equations 1-B, 2-B and 3-B,respectively. However, each set of equations specifies an order ofoperations to be performed on a computer processing device. Thus, theactual operations used to perform the processing of the first set ofalpha blending equations 1-A, 2-A and 3-A differs from the actualoperations used to perform the processing of the second set of alphablending equations 1-B, 2-B and 3-B.

The alpha blending operations above allow the multiplication operationsto be replaced with more efficient bit shift and bit masking operations,which are illustrated in FIG. 5. The grouping of the equationsillustrate an order of operations that avoids carry-over between bitfields and allows the operations to be performed in-place in the memorystore. By using shifting and masking operations, the values for thecolor components in the pixels can be manipulated in the memory in whichthe pixels are stored without having to copy the values to anothermemory location to perform the operations.

The data structures of FIGS. 3 and 4 and associated alpha blendingequations facilitate pixel representation according to the 16-bitconstraint of many media devices. Transparency may be specified withoutrequiring additional storage, such as alpha channels. The pixel formatalso approximates a 5-6-5 pixel format of five red bits followed by 6green bits followed by 5 blue bits. The 5-6-5 approximation minimizesthe amount of error should a pixel using the format described in FIG. 4be interpreted as a pixel using the 5-6-5 format, as the transparencydata is placed in the least significant bit locations in the 5-6-5format. Thus, if a mobile device not programmed to render theapproximated 5-6-5 image data receives such data, then the mobile devicemay render the data with minimum error.

In a traditional 5-6-5 implementation, which is used in the non-alphapixel 300, five bits are used to represent the data values of the red,green and blue bits 302, 304 and 308. The red and blue levels range from0-31 in steps of 1, and the green levels range from 0-62 in steps of 2.In the approximated 5-6-5 implementation for the alpha pixel 310, fourbits are used to represent the data values of the red, green and bluebits 312, 316 and 322. The red and blue levels range from 0-30 in stepsof 2, and the green level ranges from 0-60 in steps of 4. Additionally,while the data structure of FIG. 4 has been described as an approximated5-6-5 format, it can be used to approximate other formats, such as a6-5-5 or a 5-5-6 format.

Furthermore, the actual location of the alpha bits and the transparencybit may be located in locations other than the least significant bitlocations. For example, the alpha bits and the transparency bit could belocated in the first four bit locations of the data structure. However,this example implementation may not minimize errors in devices notprogrammed to render the approximated data structure.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart illustrating a method of alpha blending. A sourceimage buffer 400 stores pixels represented by the data structure formatof FIGS. 3 and 4. The pixels are alpha-blended and added to adestination image buffer.

Step 402 determines whether there are additional pixels to process inthe source image buffer 400. If there are no additional pixels toprocess, then the method ends at step 404.

If step 402 determines that there are additional pixels to process, step405 reads a pixel from the source image buffer 400, and step 406determines whether the pixel read at step 405 is opaque.

The pixel is opaque if the opaque bit 306 has a value of one, and thepixel is not opaque if the opaque bit 306 has a value of zero. If it isdetermined at step 406 that the pixel is opaque, then step 408 writesthe pixel data to the destination image buffer without alpha blending,and step 402 is then repeated.

If step 406 determines that the pixel is not opaque, then alpha blendingis performed on the pixel starting at step 410, which determines thealpha values specified by the alpha bits 314, 318, 324. In oneembodiment, the values of the three alpha bits 314, 318, 324 aredetermined according to the following pseudocode:

if (P1 & 0x0800) { a2 = 1; } else { a2 = 0; } if (P1 & 0x0040) { a1 = 1;} else { a1 = 0; } if (P1 & 0x0001) { a0 = 1; } else { a0 = 0; },where P1 is the pixel in the source image buffer 400 to be processed,and a2, a1, and a0 are the first alpha bit 314, the second alpha bit318, and the third alpha bit 324, respectively. The “&” operator denotesa bitwise AND operation. Other methods or processes of determining thethree alpha bits a0, a1 and a2 may also be used.

Step 412 then determines a bit shift and a bit mask required to performthe alpha blending. In one embodiment, the bit shift “n” and bit mask“mask” are determined according to the following pseudocode:

n = (a1 << 1) + a0; switch (n) { case 0: mask = ~0; break; case 1: mask= ~0x0410; break; case 2: mask = ~0x0618; break; case 3: mask = ~0x071C;break; }

The “<<” operator denotes a bitwise left shift, and the “˜” operatedenotes a bitwise 1's compliment. The multiplications in the first andsecond sets of alpha blending equations above are replaced with rightshifts of n=2a1+a0 bits, followed by bit masking with the correspondingmasks to eliminate carry-over between fields. The mask values 0, 0x410,0x0618 and 0x071C correspond to carry-overs for a 0-bit shift, a 1-bitshift, a 2-bit shift, and a 3-bit shift, respectively.

Other methods of determining the bit shifts and masks may also be used.For example, an indexed array of the four mask values of 0, 0x410,0x0618 and 0x071C indexed by the bit shifted value of a1 added to a0 maybe used. Thus, the three resulting indexed values of 0, 1, 2 and 3 wouldindex the mask values of 0, 0x410, 0x0618 and 0x071C, respectively.

Step 414 computes the pixel value to be added to the destination imagebuffer. The destination image buffer pixel is computed according to thefollowing pseudocode:

if (a2 == 0) { Q0 = P1; Q1 = P0; } else { Q0 = P0; Q1 = P1; } P0  := Q0− ((Q0 >>> n) & mask); P0 += (Q1 >>> n) & mask;where P0 is the destination image buffer pixel, P1 is the current pixelvalue stored in the source image buffer, and Q0 and Q1 are calculationvariables. The “>>>” operator denotes an unsigned bitwise right shift.

Step 416 then writes the pixel data that was computed at step 414 to thedestination image buffer. Step 402 is then repeated.

The alpha blending method of FIG. 5 performs alpha blending of 16-bitpixel values without performing any multiplication operations.Multiplication is a potentially costly operation, especially in theabsence of an arithmetic co-processor. Thus, the method of FIG. 5 isparticularly useful for devices having limited processing capabilities.

FIG. 6 is a block diagram of an exemplary mobile communication devicethat may incorporate the display processing system and method describedabove. The mobile communication device 510 includes a transceiver 511, amicroprocessor 538, a display 522, Flash memory 524, RAM memory 526,auxiliary input/output (I/O) devices 528, a serial port 530, a keyboard532, a speaker 534, a microphone 536, a short-range wirelesscommunications sub-system 540, and may also include other devicesub-systems 542. The transceiver 511 preferably includes transmit andreceive antennas 516, 518, a receiver 512, a transmitter 514, one ormore local oscillators 513, and a digital signal processor 520. Withinthe Flash memory 524, the mobile communication device 510 preferablyincludes a plurality of software modules 524A-524N that can be executedby the microprocessor 538 (and/or the DSP 520), including a voicecommunication module 524A, a data communication module 524B, and aplurality of other operational modules 524N for carrying out a pluralityof other functions.

The mobile communication device 510 is preferably a two-waycommunication device having voice and data communication capabilities.Thus, for example, the mobile communication device 510 may communicateover a voice network, such as any of the analog or digital cellularnetworks, and may also communicate over a data network. The voice anddata networks are depicted in FIG. 6 by the communication tower 519.These voice and data networks may be separate communication networksusing separate infrastructure, such as base stations, networkcontrollers, etc., or they may be integrated into a single wirelessnetwork.

The communication subsystem 511 is used to communicate with the voiceand data network 519, and includes the receiver 512, the transmitter514, the one or more local oscillators 513 and may also include the DSP520. The DSP 520 is used to send and receive signals to and from thetransmitter 514 and receiver 512, and is also utilized to receivecontrol information from the transmitter 514 and to provide controlinformation to the receiver 512. If the voice and data communicationsoccur at a single frequency, or closely-spaced set of frequencies, thena single local oscillator 513 may be used in conjunction with thetransmitter 514 and receiver 512. Alternatively, if differentfrequencies are utilized for voice communications versus datacommunications, then a plurality of local oscillators 513 can be used togenerate a plurality of frequencies corresponding to the voice and datanetworks 519. Although two antennas 516, 518 are shown, the mobilecommunication device 510 could be used with a single antenna structure.Information, which includes both voice and data information, iscommunicated to and from the communication module 511 via a link betweenthe DSP 520 and the microprocessor 538. The detailed design of thecommunication subsystem 511, such as frequency band, componentselection, power level, etc., is dependent upon the communicationnetwork 519 in which the mobile communication device 510 is intended tooperate. Depending upon the type of network or networks 519, the accessrequirements for the mobile communication device 510 may also vary. Forexample, in the Mobitex and DataTAC data networks, media devices areregistered on the network using a unique identification numberassociated with each device. In GPRS data networks, however, networkaccess is associated with a subscriber or user of a media device. A GPRSdevice typically requires a subscriber identity module (“SIM”), which isrequired to operate a mobile communication device on a GPRS network.Local or non-network communication functions (if any) may be operable,without the SIM, but a mobile communication device will be unable tocarry out any functions involving communications over the data network519, other than any legally required operations, such as 911 emergencycalling.

After any required network registration or activation procedures havebeen completed, the mobile communication device 510 may then send andreceive communication signals, including both voice and data signals,over the network 519 (or networks). Signals received by the antenna 516from the communication network 519 are routed to the receiver 512, whichprovides for signal amplification, frequency down conversion, filtering,channel selection, etc., and may also provide analog to digitalconversion. Analog to digital conversion of the received signal allowsmore complex communication functions, such as digital demodulation anddecoding to be performed using the DSP 520. In a similar manner, signalsto be transmitted to the network 519 are processed, including modulationand encoding, for example, by the DSP 520 and are then provided to thetransmitter 514 for digital to analog conversion, frequency upconversion, filtering, amplification and transmission to thecommunication network 519 (or networks) via the antenna 518. Although asingle transceiver 511 is shown for both voice and data communications,it is possible that the mobile communication device 510 may include twodistinct transceivers, a first transceiver for transmitting andreceiving voice signals, and a second transceiver for transmitting andreceiving data signals.

In addition to processing the communication signals, the DSP 520 alsoprovides for receiver and transmitter control. For example, the gainlevels applied to communication signals in the receiver 512 andtransmitter 514 may be adaptively controlled through automatic gaincontrol algorithms implemented in the DSP 520. Other transceiver controlalgorithms could also be implemented in the DSP 520 to provide moresophisticated control of the transceiver 511.

The microprocessor 538 preferably manages and controls the overalloperation of the mobile communication device 510. Many types ofmicroprocessors or micro controllers could be used here, or,alternatively, a single DSP 520 could be used to carry out the functionsof the microprocessor 538. Low-level communication functions, includingat least data and voice communications, are performed through the DSP520 in the transceiver 511. Other, high-level communicationapplications, such as a voice communication application 524A, and a datacommunication application 524B may be stored in the Flash memory 524 forexecution by the microprocessor 538. For example, the voicecommunication module 524A may provide a high-level user interfaceoperable to transmit and receive voice calls between the mobilecommunication device 510 and a plurality of other voice devices via thenetwork 519. Similarly, the data communication module 524B may provide ahigh-level user interface operable for sending and receiving data, suchas e-mail messages, files, organizer information, short text messages,etc., between the mobile communication device 510 and a plurality ofother data devices via the network 519. In the mobile communicationdevice 510, a system or method of displaying transparent images may alsobe implemented as a software module or application, or incorporated intoone of the software modules 524A-524N.

The microprocessor 538 also interacts with other mobile communicationdevice subsystems, such as the display 522, Flash memory 524, randomaccess memory (RAM) 526, auxiliary input/output (I/O) subsystems 528,serial port 530, keyboard 532, speaker 534, microphone 536, ashort-range communications subsystem 540 and any other mobilecommunication device subsystems generally designated as 542.

Some of the subsystems shown in FIG. 6 perform communication-relatedfunctions, whereas other subsystems may provide resident or on-devicefunctions. Notably, some subsystems, such as keyboard 532 and display522 may be used for both communication-related functions, such asentering a text message for transmission over a data communicationnetwork, and device-resident functions such as a calculator or task listor other PDA type functions.

Operating system software used by the microprocessor 538 is preferablystored in a persistent store such as Flash memory 524. In addition tothe operating system, which controls all of the low-level functions ofthe mobile communication device 510, the Flash memory 524 may include aplurality of high-level software application programs, or modules, suchas a voice communication module 524A, a data communication module 524B,an organizer module (not shown), or any other type of software module524N. The Flash memory 524 also may include a file system for storingdata. These modules are executed by the microprocessor 538 and provide ahigh-level interface between a user of the mobile communication deviceand the media device. This interface typically includes a graphicalcomponent provided through the display 522, and an input/outputcomponent provided through the auxiliary I/O 528, keyboard 532, speaker534, and microphone 536. The operating system, specific mobilecommunication device software applications or modules, or parts thereof,may be temporarily loaded into a volatile store, such as RAM 526 forfaster operation. Moreover, received communication signals may also betemporarily stored to RAM 526, before permanently writing them to a filesystem located in the persistent store 524.

An exemplary application module 524N that may be loaded onto the mobilecommunication device 510 is a personal information manager (PIM)application providing PDA functionality, such as calendar events,appointments, and task items. This module 524N may also interact withthe voice communication module 524A for managing phone calls, voicemails, etc., and may also interact with the data communication modulefor managing e-mail communications and other data transmissions.Alternatively, all of the functionality of the voice communicationmodule 524A and the data communication module 524B may be integratedinto the PIM module.

The Flash memory 524 preferably provides a file system to facilitatestorage of PIM data items on the mobile communication device 510. ThePIM application preferably includes the ability to send and receive dataitems, either by itself, or in conjunction with the voice and datacommunication modules 524A, 524B, via the wireless network 519. The PIMdata items are preferably seamlessly integrated, synchronized andupdated, via the wireless network 519, with a corresponding set of dataitems stored or associated with a host computer system, thereby creatinga mirrored system for data items associated with a particular user. TheFlash memory 524 may be used, for example, to store the source imagebuffer 108 and destination image buffer 110 of FIG. 1.

The mobile communication device 510 may also be manually synchronizedwith a host system by placing the mobile communication device 510 in aninterface cradle, which couples the serial port 530 of the mobilecommunication device 510 to the serial port of the host system. Theserial port 530 may also be used to enable a user to set preferencesthrough an external device or software application, or to download otherapplication modules 524N for installation. This wired download path maybe used to load an encryption key onto the mobile communication device510, which is a more secure method than exchanging encryptioninformation via the wireless network 519.

Additional application modules 524N may be loaded onto the mobilecommunication device 510 through the network 519, through an auxiliaryI/O subsystem 528, through the serial port 530, through the short-rangecommunications subsystem 540, or through any other suitable subsystem542, and installed by a user in the Flash memory 524 or RAM 526. Suchflexibility in application installation increases the functionality ofthe mobile communication device 510 and may provide enhanced on-devicefunctions, communication-related functions, or both. For example, securecommunication applications may enable electronic commerce functions andother such financial transactions to be performed using the mobilecommunication device 510.

When the device 510 is operating in a data communication mode, areceived signal, such as a text message or a web page download, will beprocessed by the transceiver 511 and provided to the microprocessor 538,which will preferably further process the received signal for output tothe display 522, or, alternatively, to an auxiliary I/O device 528. Auser of the mobile communication device 510 may also compose data items,such as email messages, using the keyboard 532, which is preferably acomplete alphanumeric keyboard laid out in the QWERTY style, althoughother styles of complete alphanumeric keyboards such as the known DVORAKstyle may also be used. User input to the mobile communication device510 is further enhanced with a plurality of auxiliary I/O devices 528,which may include a thumbwheel input device, a touchpad, a variety ofswitches, a rocker input switch, etc. The composed data items input bythe user may then be transmitted over the communication network 519 viathe transceiver 511.

When the mobile communication device 510 is operating in a voicecommunication mode, the overall operation of the mobile communicationdevice 510 is substantially similar to the data mode, except thatreceived signals are preferably be output to the speaker 534 and voicesignals for transmission are generated by a microphone 536. Alternativevoice or audio I/O subsystems, such as a voice message recordingsubsystem, may also be implemented on the mobile communication device510. Although voice or audio signal output is preferably accomplishedprimarily through the speaker 534, the display 522 may also be used toprovide an indication of the identity of a calling party, the durationof a voice call, or other voice call related information. For example,the microprocessor 538, in conjunction with the voice communicationmodule and the operating system software, may detect the calleridentification information of an incoming voice call and display it onthe display 522.

A short-range communications subsystem 540 is also included in themobile communication device 510. For example, the short-rangecommunications subsystem 540 may include an infrared device andassociated circuits and components, or a short-range wirelesscommunication module such as a Bluetooth™ module or an 802.11 module toprovide for communication with similarly-enabled systems and devices.Those skilled in the art will appreciate that “Bluetooth” and 802.11refer to sets of specifications, available from the Institute ofElectrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE), relating to wirelesspersonal area networks and wireless LANs, respectively.

While the display processing system and method has been described withreference to a mobile device, the display processing system and methodcan be used to display any transparent image on any display processingdevice or computer. For example, a video processing card for a desktopPC device may incorporate the display processing system and methoddescribed above. Additionally, the image need not be part of ananimation; the display process method may be used to render any videoimage on a computing device.

This written description uses illustrative embodiments to disclose theinvention, including the best mode, and also to enable a person ofordinary skill in the art to make and use the invention. Otherembodiments and devices are within the scope of the claims if they haveelements that do not differ from the literal language of the claims orhave elements equivalent to those recited in the claims.

1. A method for storing pixel data in a field corresponding to a pixelof an image, the field including an opacity bit and a set of bits, themethod comprising the following actions implemented by a microprocessor:storing a color level value of a component color of the pixel in the setof bits if the opacity bit is set to an opaque-indicating state; andstoring a transparency level value in at least one bit of the set ofbits and storing the respective color level value in other bits of theset of bits if the opacity bit is set to a transparency-indicatingstate.
 2. The method of claim 1 wherein the at least one bit of the setof bits, along with other bits that are not among the set of bits,together indicate a single transparency level value that is applicableto the component color.
 3. The method of claim 1 wherein the image is afirst image, and the method further comprises: blending the pixel dataof each pixel of the first image with pixel data of a correspondingpixel of a second image.
 4. The method of claim 3 wherein the blendingincludes: bit-shifting the color level value of the pixel of the firstimage by a number of bit positions indicated by the transparency levelvalue for the pixel; and adding the bit-shifted color level value to acorresponding color level value of the corresponding pixel of the secondimage.
 5. The method of claim 4 wherein the bit-shifting of the colorlevel value of the first image is performed in the same memory locationin which the color level value of the first image is stored.
 6. Themethod of claim 1 wherein the microprocessor performing the storingactions is part of a mobile communication device.
 7. A non-transitorycomputer-readable storage medium or mediums encoded with instructionsthat cause an electronic device to perform a method for storing pixeldata in a field corresponding to a pixel of an image, the fieldincluding an opacity bit and a set of bits, the method comprising theactions of: storing a color level value of a component color of thepixel in the set of bits, if the opacity bit is set to anopaque-indicating state; and storing a transparency level value in atleast one bit of the set of bits and storing the respective color levelvalue in other bits of the set of bits, if the opacity bit is set to atransparency-indicating state.
 8. The medium or mediums of claim 7wherein the at least one bit of the set of bits, along with other bitsstored outside the set of bits, together indicate a single transparencylevel value that is applicable to the component color.
 9. The medium ormediums of claim 7 wherein the image is a first image, and the methodfurther comprising the action of blending the pixel data of each pixelof the first image with pixel data of a corresponding pixel of a secondimage.
 10. The medium or mediums of claim 7 configured to be part of amobile communication device.